What came first, the chicken or the egg? A long standing question, right?
As
we enter into this new fiscal year and focus on our Key Measures, so
too comes the question, what comes first-Engagement, Client Retention,
Revenue or Profitability. Can
we achieve the last three successfully without achieving a high level
of engagement? That’s not to say that all of the measures aren’t
equally important or don’t equally contribute to the success of our
company, they do.
However,
can we achieve 100% retention or increase our profit and revenue or
that of our clients without highly engaged employees? Are our team
members involved, interested
and aware of what our goals are? Do they understand why these goals
are important and what their role in achieving them are?
That’s
the what and the why of engagement. I’ve outlined a few simple actions
we can all take to increase and maintain our team’s engagement-the how.
1.
Transparency-trust = loyalty; give your team insight into the state of the business and decision making process, be open.
2.
Give
consistent feedback-let your team know where they stand with the
company, help the team understand what is expected; always deliver
feedback in a positive, constructive
and solutions oriented manner.
3.
Recognition-recognition, even in the simplest form (Thank You) goes a long way to engage employees.
4.
Celebrate
small wins- we all go through ups and downs throughout the year.
Celebrate the small wins and over time it will increase loyalty among
your team, even in tough times.
5.
Be
available, be empathetic-creating a positive work environment will not
only engage your employees but will also make them feel more comfortable
with you.
6.
Hold
team members accountable – all of the time, every time. Nothing
de-motivates a team more than a perception of inequality or that not
everyone is held to the same standard.
7.
Focus
on chronic underperformers-are your team members in the right place,
are they meeting expectations, are they engaged? Is their lack of
engagement affecting the entire
team?
8.
Start
at the top-if we as leaders aren’t engaged, how can we engage our
team? Are you in the right job, do you have the passion to lead your
team? If you answer no, it may
be time to check out a different career path.
It takes all of us to be successful and improve our results. We’ve got to start somewhere, why not start with our people!